"The world's coldest banana republic"

Latest news from Canada: The Governor General (The Queen's representative in Canada) has suspended their Parliament, on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, until late January when a budget will be presented to the chamber. The opposition parties had tabled a vote of no-confidence in the Prime Minister for Monday, which was likely to pass.

Here's what each of the parties said about it:

Harper (PM - Conservative): "Today's decision will give us an opportunity - I'm talking about the parties - to focus on the economy and work together."

Dion (Liberal): "For the first time in history the Prime Minister is running away from the parliament of Canada."

Layton (New Democrat): "He's trying to lock the door of parliament so the elected people cannot speak."

Duceppe (Bloc): "We don't believe him and we don't have confidence in him."

Uncharted territory, and as I alluded to in an earlier post, questionable action for a democratic state. Here's some things to think about:

The Conservatives won the election, albeit without a majority, and attempted to govern (again) as a minority - something that is fairly common in Europe. Yet, questionable in a democratic sense - if only a minority of those electing (say 35-40%) want you to govern, is that democratic? I guess it depends on the electoral system - if it is a plurality system (such as Canada's First-Past-The-Post constituency system) then that can be reflected in the national vote, and as such, probably does provide a mandate to govern as a minority.

The Liberals, New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois all returned (considerably) less members than the Conservatives but collectively their number is more - and indeed, constitutes a majority in the parliament. As representatives of the people in Canada, do they have a mandate to oust Harper as PM and take over the government? Well, short answer - yes. If the PM is not acting in what opposition parties see as the best interests of the country, then they are doing thier duty to challenge him. Usually this wouldn't involve a constitutional crisis, but Harper is running a minority government - he has to find some support from opposition parties or his government will fall. He has failed to do so, and therefore, they legitimately have a shot at replacing him.

Is it democratic to circumvent parliament, ask the Queen's representative - who, by the way, is not elected - to suspend parliament so you can avoid losing power in a vote of confidence and cling on to your job? I'm not so sure about that one.

In the short term, the Governor General has saved Harper's job and preserved parliament - at least until it returns in January. In the long term, I'm not sure that this action hasn't done more damge to the fragile political situation in Canada.

Democracy in action - you gotta love it!

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Oh (dear) Canada!

With a hat tip to James at Two Doctors, I learn that, after the inability of Stephen Harper's Conservatives to secure a majority of seats in October's Canadian election, the opposition parties have a plan to kick him out of office.

The Conservatives, in minority government, have 143 of the 308 seats - 12 short of an overall majority. The opposition Liberals have 76, the New Democrats have 37 and the Bloc Québécois - the Quebec separatists - have 50. Add them together and you get 163 - more than a majority, and enough for a collective vote of no confidence in Stephen Harper and his government.

The Liberal/ New Democrat/ Bloc plan would see current Liberal leader Stephane Dion become Prime Minister, while the New Democrats would get six of the 24 Cabinet posts. The Bloc has pledged support for 18 months. However, to avoid a motion of no confidence, Stephen Harper intends to ask for a suspension of parliament - and then another election. The Washington Post calls it "one of teh worst political crises in Canada's history" while the Canadian National Post suggests if the plan goes ahead, Canada would become "the world's coldest banana republic."

As a student of politics, it is a fascinating situation to watch unravel. Despite losing 27 seats in the previous election, the leader of the Liberals may become the next Prime Minister, with the support of a party who wants to separate the territory it represents from Canada. But it raises a huge number of questions about the nature of democracy. Two telling quotes from the exchange between Harper and Dion:

Harper: "The highest principle of Canadian democracy is that if you want to be prime minister, you get your mandate from the Canadian people, not the separatists."

Dion: "Every member of this House has received a mandate from the Canadian people... The prime minister doesn't have the support of this House any more."

Difficult to believe, but I agree with both statements. Harper won the election and thus has a mandate to govern - but with a minority government, you have to find ways of co-operating with opposition parties in order to pass legislation. Equally, the opposition parties have lost confidence in his ability to govern effectively and have agreed (with an overall mandate greater than that of the Conservatives) a plan to govern in his place. But is that democratic? Indeed, is any coalition government? Or, for that matter, a minority government?

Makes you wonder what will happen in Scotland if the unionist parties ever decide to gang up on the minority SNP administration and force a vote of no-confidence.

I'd suggest the answer - by no means a popular one given the current political and, well, natural climate in Canada at the moment - is to have another election. But then, presumably, all that would happen would be that the Conservatives would lose some seats and the horsetrading would begin all over again.

Quite glad it isn't my job to sort out this mess really!

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Conservatives conquer Canada again

I see that Canada has re-elected Stephen Harper's Conservative party for another term of minority government. The Conservatives fell short of the 155 seats required for Harper's coveted majority - indeed, one of the main reasons he went to the polls was to secure such a win.

The full result (+/- from 2006 election):
Conservative - 143 (+19)
Liberal - 76 (-27)
Bloc Québécois - 50 (-1)
New Democrat - 37 (+8)
Green - 0 (N/C)
Others - 2 (+1)

Several questions I have - perhaps for people more knowledgeable about Canadian politics than me.

How much of this result was based upon the economic turmoil which currently exists and how much of it was about supporting the Conservative party for their values/ policies?

Can we draw anything from the result for the upcoming US Presidential election and any potential election here?

Answers to the second on a postcard to a Mr G. Brown, formerly of Kirkcaldy, now in London, who is eager to here some suggestions...

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